Farmers forced to sell produce at distress prices, says Hooda

Launching a blistering attack on the BJP government, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said under the BJP government, farmers are once again yearning for MSP and are facing relentless exploitation.

“Farmers are compelled to sell millet, cotton and paddy at distress prices as the BJP government has utterly failed to fulfil its promise. Procurement agencies are declining to purchase on the pretext of moisture, forcing farmers to wait for days and nights in mandis,” he claimed.

Hooda was interacting with mediapersons after paying tribute to Tarun Bhagwaria, son of former minister Shakuntala Bhagwaria, at a condolence meeting held here on Sunday.

Raising the issue of farmers’ plight, Hooda recalled that before the elections, the BJP had promised paddy farmers a rate of Rs 3,100 per quintal, but this assurance remained unfulfilled last season and has been broken again this season. Despite brisk arrivals of paddy in Haryana’s markets, farmers are facing immense hardship due to the absence of procurement, he added.

He pointed out that procurement has not even commenced in most mandis. “In many places, gate passes are not being issued because of incomplete verification on the procurement portal, while in others, problems persist due to non-registration of rice millers. Taking advantage of this flawed system, private agencies are buying paddy -- with an MSP of Rs 2,369 -- at just Rs 1,900-2,000 per quintal,” he added.

Hooda said that Haryana’s farmers, still reeling from the devastation caused by floods, are now being subjected to the government’s indifference. On the one hand, they are being denied the rightful MSP, and on the other, they are being booked in cases of stubble burning. FIRs and challans had already been filed against farmers in Fatehabad and Jind, he added.

Memorandum submitted

Rohtak: A delegation of Multi-Purpose Health Workers (MPHW) on Sunday submitted a memorandum to Hooda in Rohtak. They urged him to raise their demands prominently. They are demanding the reinstatement of MPHW positions in urban areas, approval of new posts based on population norms, regular recruitment to fill long-vacant MPHW (male and female) posts and grant of the original pay scale (FPL-6) for ANMs working under the National Health Mission, Haryana, within the MPHW cadre.